The Recluse Read online

  Once in town, I’d driven around to a couple of the spots where I knew the lowlife loitered. I ended up finding the little bastard hanging out in the alleyway between the liquor and convenience stores. He was with one other guy, each of them with a bottle in their hand, cigarettes between their lips. I pulled into a parking spot, my headlights shining directly into the alleyway. For a moment, they didn’t pay me any attention, but when I didn’t turn the lights off, they both looked in my direction. I had my hands tight around the steering wheel, the leather creaking from the force I was using.

  The other guy said something to Josh, tossed his cigarette to the side, and then ended up walking away. But the little motherfucker still watched me after he was alone, this nasty-toothed grin spread across his face.

  He flicked his cigarette away and brought his bottle up to his mouth, taking a long drink as he stared at me. He couldn’t see me clearly because of the tinted windows, but he’d see me soon enough.

  For a second, I sat there and let my rage grow, fester, increase until it consumed me. I’d never felt anything like this, this burning intensity to exact revenge, to let someone know that what they did was wrong… that they’d touched what was mine.

  Even if he hadn’t put his hands on her, the fact that he approached her, spoke to her, had every possessive instinct in me coming alive. But he had hurt her, marked her, and that I would not stand for.

  I climbed out of the car, didn’t even bother closing my door or cutting the engine, and made my way toward him.

  He was a ballsy fucker, I’d give him that, as he held his ground, his grin growing. I was bigger than him, not just in height but in weight as well. I was double his size and width. He didn’t stand a chance. And although I could’ve easily killed him on principle alone, I was making a point, not just for Kitty, not just to stake my claim, but to put in his mind that him assaulting women would not be tolerated.

  I stopped when I was just a foot from him, inhaled deeply, feeling my nostrils flare. He smelled like stale cigarettes and rancid sweat, booze, and despair. He smelled like a fucking piece of shit.

  I could’ve talked to him, could’ve set him straight with words alone, but that wasn’t going to happen, because I knew this man was nothing but a lowlife. He’d do this again and again until someone stopped him.

  And that someone was me. That day was today.

  “You assaulted what’s mine,” I growled.

  He didn’t speak for a moment, but I could see his mind working as he tried to remember or place what I was talking about. Finally, the light went on in his head, and his eyebrows rose slightly for a second.

  “You mean that bitch from the grocery store today?”

  That was all it took for me to lose my cool, for every sane, rational part of my body to snap in half. I said nothing as I reared my arm back and brought my fist right to the center of his face. I heard bone crunch, his nose breaking.

  He dropped the bottle, and I heard the glass break within the paper bag. He cupped his face but not before I saw blood pouring from his nose, smelled it thicken the air with a coppery aroma.

  He stumbled back, hunched over slightly, but he still looked at me, a stunned expression on his face. He knew who I was. Everyone in town did.

  But he was drunk and high all the time, probably so hopped up on drugs right now that he just didn’t care.

  I took a step forward and smelled the fear come from him. He finally understood, took notice that I could crush him in my hands as if he were nothing but a nuisance, a fly.

  “If you touch, look, even fucking think about what’s mine—or another woman again—I’ll come looking for you, Josh.” I grinned, but it was more of a sneer, a flash of my teeth to let him know I was more animal than man right now.

  “There’s nowhere you can hide, nowhere you can run that I can’t fucking find you. My pockets are endless, black holes of resources, and my reach is far and wide with my connections. I’d find you. And I’ll make sure that if you ever do this again, you’ll never have function of your arms or legs from that point forward.” I stared at him right in the eyes, could see the reality set in, his head clearing from whatever substance he was intoxicated with, so my words really penetrated.

  I wasn’t a violent man by nature, had never even gotten into a physical fight. I used my words as my weapon. But when you wanted something so fucking much, it consumed you, and you’d do anything to make sure it was safe.

  And I felt that way with Kitty.

  “Do you understand me?” He nodded quickly, and I heard the grunt of pain come from him as the movement jarred his now broken nose.

  I stared him in the eyes for a moment longer, really cementing my words, really making him fucking see how serious I was, before I turned and headed back home.

  I felt raw in this moment, my emotions and feelings torn open, as if somebody had cut my chest, exposed my heart.

  Yes, tonight I’d let Kitty know she was mine. I’d let her know with my words and with my body that I wasn’t letting her go.

  11

  Kitty

  I’d been cleaning up after dinner when I heard Fin come into the kitchen. To say there had been this thickness in the room as we ate would’ve been an understatement. His expression had been hard, as if he had something heavy on his mind but didn’t want to share it with me.

  He didn’t have to. I knew what the problem was.

  I hadn’t missed how he kept looking at my wrist. As the hours passed, the bruise started to become more noticeable. He was pissed about it. I knew without him saying those words.

  And that had been hours ago. He told me he had to run an errand. I didn’t question where he was going so late, because it wasn’t my business. But deep in my gut, I knew what was happening, what he was doing.

  Going to handle what happened to me… going to find the man who touched me.

  I was in my room, pacing, feeling on edge. I didn’t want him fighting my battles. I was a strong, independent woman, I kept telling myself. But a part of me, a part that was pretty damn strong, couldn’t help the feminine appreciation that he wanted to protect me.

  Tonight. When he was back. I’d tell him how I felt.

  I couldn’t hold it in anymore, not when I knew the looks he gave me, the way he watched me, and now this meant he had to harbor some kind of deeper feelings for me too.

  I’d wait for him downstairs. I’d look him in the eyes and be honest, the truth spilling from me without any reservation, without worry or fear. I didn’t care if I lost my job over this, because even if I did, at least I’d have the honesty out in the open and the weight off my shoulders.

  I descended the stairs, and just as I stepped onto the landing of the main level, the front door opened. Fin stepped in, his gaze focused on the floor as he closed the door behind him. He lifted his head, and our eyes locked.

  My heart started beating harder, my body instantly reacting to his presence. But he looked… different. He appeared more primal and on edge than I’d ever seen him before.

  I didn’t need to ask what was wrong. I knew.

  My gaze instantly lowered to his hands, and that’s when I saw the knuckles on one of them. Busted and raw… from hitting something or someone.

  I lifted my focus back to his face, and a gasp left me when I watched the way he lowered his head, his eyes locked on mine. He started moving toward me, this deep rumble leaving his chest. I found myself taking a step back and gripping the banister of the stairs for support. I may have retreated slightly, but I wasn’t running away.

  He looked positively animalistic as he stalked forward.

  Fin stopped just a few steps from me, and I watched his nostrils flare as he inhaled deeply, as if he were taking in my scent. Another deep sound left him, and I swallowed, feeling on edge, exposed… unsure of what was happening.

  It was like electricity moved around us, in us. I felt the power come from him, the purely male aroma of a man looking at a woman he wanted.

 
And I was that woman.

  “You went after him,” I whispered, not even phrasing it as a question, because we both knew the truth. We both knew the answer. He didn’t respond, just took another step toward me. But I held my ground, refused to back away even more. I didn’t want to. I wanted to be as close to Fin as humanly possible. I’d already told myself tonight was the night to tell him how I felt.

  And so I craned my head back to look into his face, stared into his turbulent eyes, and I felt myself falling deeper… felt the attraction become more intense.

  No. It was more than just needing him in a primal way. It was more than just sexual desire.

  I didn’t know what it was. But I knew it controlled me.

  I knew it shaped me.

  I knew it freed me.

  So I just said it, laid it out, bared myself to him heart and soul. And damn the consequences.

  “I want you, Fin.”

  12

  Fin

  In the next breath, I had her in my arms, no thoughts about consequences or repercussions. I thought I might’ve hurt her inadvertently, but when she rose up on her toes and pressed her chest more firmly against mine, her belly now digging into my cock, I tilted her head with my hand and knew my girl was into this just as much as I was.

  I just wanted to hold her, to finally touch her.

  With my hand now tangled in her hair, tilting her head back impossibly farther, I leaned down and slammed my mouth against hers. The surprised sound that left her fueled me on, and I pushed my tongue between the seam of her lips, delving inside, tasting her, feeling her surrender like ink spilling from a jar.

  It ignited me, inflamed me.

  She wanted me? She had every piece of me.

  I kissed her with passion, brutality. I fucked her mouth with my lips and tongue. I made her take every ounce of me, and still, I gave her more.

  I moved my hands over her shoulders, along her back, over the feminine, slender dip of her waist and to the flare of her hips. I dug my fingers in for only a second before I moved my palms along to the perfect mounds of her ass. And then I squeezed hard enough that she let out a little sound.

  I grunted at the feel of her body against mine, at how feminine she was against my masculinity. My dick was this raging lead pipe barely restrained and confined behind my slacks.

  The fucker dug against the material, pressed against my zipper. I knew she felt it, knew that the little mewling noises that came from her as I ground my cock into her belly were from pleasure.

  She wanted me inside her. I knew it. Felt it.

  She wanted more, was desperate for it. I could smell it coming from her, a sweet arousal that thickened the air, coated me and had me even more fucking turned on.

  With my hands still on her ass, my fingers curved around the perfect mounds, I lifted her easily. She moaned and wrapped her legs around my waist, her pussy now in direct contact with my bulge. I mouth-fucked her for long moments, unable to stop myself, unable to tame the passion that I had for her.

  “Tell me again that you want me, baby.” The words were muffled against her lips.

  She moaned and nodded before saying, “I want you so badly.”

  I wanted to hear her tell me that she needed me over and over again. Because I sure as fuck needed her.

  I held her in my arms, her body tiny, her weight slight. I took the stairs two at a time, needing to get her in my room, on my bed. I was desperate for her, hungry… fucking starving.

  Once at the top of the steps, I quickly strode to my room, never once breaking the kiss. I was so damn worked up I couldn’t even think straight. My lone thought was getting her naked and getting my cock deep in her pussy. I needed to make her come, wanting to know I was the one giving her that pleasure.

  I bet her pussy would be so wet that once I finally slid into her tight heat, there’d be absolutely no resistance as I thrust in and out, as I filled every part of her with my thick, big dick.

  I knew her little cunt would squeeze my shaft until I felt strangled.

  I groaned at how dirty my thoughts had become.

  When I was in my room, I didn’t even bother shutting the door. There was no point. We were in this house alone, just the two of us, and I was about to fuck the hell out of her.

  I strode to the bed with her still in my arms, her hands tangled in my hair as she pulled at the strands forcefully, her desperation clear.

  I couldn’t even breathe as I continued to kiss her, as I curled my fingers deeper into her hips, slightly pushing her body down on my raging erection. She shifted in my arms as if she were trying to scale my body, her movements making me lose my balance for a second. I turned, landing on the bed, my ass to the mattress, Kitty still in my arms.

  “Fuck, Kitty.” I was frantic for her, needing her like I needed oxygen, like I needed blood rushing through my veins to give me life.

  I slid my hand up her back, cupping her nape, keeping her pressed to my body, to my lips. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  Ever.

  I’d never been this hard before, never had my balls ache, the need to cum so profound that it stole my very sanity.

  I’d never wanted anyone like this, never desired a woman that all I could see was a future with her, having her as my wife, as the mother of my children. It was so strong inside me, that feeling, that need to make it a reality… my reality.

  Our reality.

  She shifted on my lap, our kiss breaking. Her legs spread on either side of my thighs, her chest rising and falling, her breasts brushing along my chest. Motherfucking hell, she felt so good on me. So damn good. The way she looked at me, this little innocent expression on her face, had every possessive feeling in me rising to the nth degree.

  Everything inside me went primal. Feral.

  I felt crazed, and I didn't stop myself when I reached up and wound my hand in her hair, adding some pressure, bringing her forward again, so close our mouths nearly touched. I took her frantic breaths into my lungs, made her a part of me.

  I’d be giving her a part of myself soon enough.

  I needed to be gentle, soft, and sweet, because right now, I felt like I could tear Kitty up. My desire for her was a living entity in me, wanting to be brutal, barbaric even.

  “Kitty,” I groaned her name, loving the way it rolled off my tongue. I felt like I should have been saying it my entire life. “I want to be gentle, but fuck, baby…” I breathed out slowly, grappling with control. “The things I want to do to you, the way I want to make you feel... if I were to tell you, they would have you running away.”

  She breathed out slowly, as if my words affected her on every level.

  Good, she knew how I felt now.

  “I’m barely hanging on, baby.”

  She didn’t respond right away, just leaned in until I felt her warm breath brush along my lips. A visible shiver wracked my entire body.

  Did she know I could have gotten off with the feel of her on my lap, just come in my fucking slacks as if it were nothing?

  “I’m barely hanging on too,” she finally said, her lips barely brushing along mine when she spoke. “And you can’t scare me away. I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

  I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against hers, trying to grapple for control, to hold off from just letting this go. I didn’t want this to end too soon.

  Gentle. She deserves all the gentle things.

  “I don’t need gentle,” she whispered, and I wondered if I said those words out loud.

  I slid my hand up her back, pulling her in impossibly closer, and tangled my hand in her hair.

  I tightened my hold on her hair, an involuntary act, because I was getting strung even tighter, worked up even more. I leaned in and rested my forehead against hers. “All I can feel, smell, taste, is you, baby.” I wanted to drown in her scent.

  I ran my tongue along her lips. I groaned at her taste. I’d never tasted anything sweeter.

  “I’m so wet, Fin.”
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br />   Christ. She was going to have me exploding before I was even inside her tight body.

  I hummed harshly, and she started to rock back and forth on me, her hands on my shoulders, her breathing coming in short pants.

  Fuck.

  “That feel good, baby?”

  She closed her eyes and nodded, her head tipping back slightly, her long hair swaying from her movements. She kept rocking on me, and I felt beads of sweat dot my forehead as I strained to gather my control, to not come.

  When that happened, I’d be buried deep in her body.

  “That’s it,” I found myself saying and had my hands on her waist, guiding her movements, having her rock back and forth faster. I pushed her lower body down on me at the same time I slightly rose up, grinding my shaft against her.

  “Ah,” she whispered.

  “Give it to me.” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but she started really working herself on me then.

  I let go of her waist and placed my palms flat on the bed, leaning my upper body back slightly and letting her do her thing.

  We might’ve had our clothes on still, but I swore to fuck I felt her pussy against my dick as if we were totally naked.

  Knowing she was about to get off because of me had pre-cum spilling from the tip of my cock and dampening the front of my slacks.

  I wanted to fuck her badly.

  “Come for me, Kitty. Let me see you get off.”

  And she gave into me so damn easily.

  She parted her lips, dug her nails into my shoulders painfully—fucking perfectly—and gave me what I wanted.

  She came on my demand.

  I watched her come, and I swore to fucking everything that was holy that it was almost as good as finding my own release. It felt so fucking good knowing I made her feel this pleasure.

  It was long moments as she rode out that wave of ecstasy before she finally settled and relaxed. I wasn’t nearly done with her. Not even fucking close.

  I cupped the back of her head and tipped it upward so she was looking at me. She finally opened her eyes, this post-euphoric expression on her drowsy face. God, she was gorgeous.